


One Week

by Accal1a, JillTheMenace



Series: Love, Luck, and Lies [3]
Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux, Sidewinder Series - Abigail Roux
Genre: Angst, D/s aftermath, Introspection, M/M, Pining, Rejection-Sensitive Dysphoria, Stubborn Denial, Yearning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:42:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25172554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accal1a/pseuds/Accal1a, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JillTheMenace/pseuds/JillTheMenace
Summary: Liam, Kelly, and Nick each spend the week after their glorious night of sex waiting for a call that doesn't come.Until it does.
Relationships: Kelly Abbott/Liam Bell/Nick O'Flaherty
Series: Love, Luck, and Lies [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1578808
Comments: 21
Kudos: 4





	1. Liam

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for putting up with the major delay in getting the next installment of this out! I can't believe it's already been 6 months and then some. Our sincere apologies!

Liam's mind wandered as he flicked through the offerings available to him on his shitty motel room TV. Despite itching for another change in location, he couldn't bring himself to leave Boston. Not right now, not when there was the small hint of something... well, _something_ from the two he had brought to bed just a week prior. 

What on Earth was he doing? Surely, if Nicholas and Kelly wanted to do something with him again, they'd let him know. But he hadn't heard anything from them for a week, so why would he expect them to reach out now? 

Maybe it _was_ just a one-time thing. A night of glorious, fulfilling sex and soft words and feeling like he could open up and lay himself bare before the two of them, and they wouldn't turn him away. Now that they had been away from him for a while, surely they had come to their senses, not being as drunk on sex anymore.

He rolled out of his bed and sighed, starting to pack up his things. The assassin didn't have much with him -- he never did. Most of his things were distributed across a few storage containers that he paid for by the month, or stashed in the number of safehouses he owned across the country. It took little time at all to zip up his suits in his carry bag, and store the rest of his supplies in his small duffel. 

When it was all done, he pulled out his phone, and pulled up airline information. Where was he going to go, now? He swallowed, staring at the available destinations, finding himself for the first time unable or unwilling to pick one. What if he picked one, and then _they_ called, wanting to invite him for another night? Not that it was at all likely, at any rate. He was _Liam fucking Bell_ , after all.

The decision to purchase tickets out of Boston ate at him for a good five minutes, before his phone began to ring. _Could it be them?_ His stomach fluttered with nerves at the thought of talking to either of them again, and a warm grin broke out onto his face. Maybe there was a reason to stick around in Boston, after all.

But as he checked the Caller ID, all traces of warmth and hope vanished in an instant. He knew _exactly_ what this blocked ID meant. It was a job, and provided it wasn't too outrageous, he knew it was one he needed to take.

He answered nearly automatically, despite the cold feeling in his gut. God _damn_ , he needed to get out of there before any more damage could be done to his psyche, before he let himself open to the possibility of _something_ when, logically, there wouldn't be anything for him here.

"Bell. You have a job?"


	2. Kelly

Kelly wasn't sure what it was about the third day, but for some reason that hit him the hardest. Sure, the sex they'd had had been some of the hottest in his life, and he _definitely_ wanted to go back to the club at some point, regardless, but this was different.

He found himself staring into space, looking out over Boston harbour and missing something he couldn't define.

He couldn't be missing the man could he? Sure they'd spent a lot of time together in Russia, and they'd had some hot as sin sex last week, and sure they'd snuggled afterwards, and tentatively started something, but he couldn't be missing him _already_ could he?

He thought of the way Liam's eyes would light up when he was happy, the way he would smile slyly when he knew he was flirting, the way they would darken in lust, the way they had teared when Nick cut his air off, and the beautiful glassy look they'd had when he was floating after their scene in the club. They were a study in contrasts, not as mercurial as Kelly's own, but with a slight bent that way anyway. They were perfect.

He thought often about the morning after, about kissing Liam and smiling against his lips, about hands grasping and holding, and the giddy feeling that had happened that morning returned to him, and before he noticed he was smiling again.

He noticed with a jolt that the feeling that he was experiencing was exactly how he used to think about Nick. Missing the man, wishing he could speak to him, not knowing how to initiate such contact, wondering whether he would see him soon. He didn't even know if Liam would want that. Sure, things had been said, but they could well have just been done in the haze of sex and not due to any actual feelings or wants. He could see Liam leaving and never coming back, disappearing out of his lives as quickly as he had entered them, and he didn't know what he would do if that happened.

He suddenly realised what the feeling was now. A sense of loss, a grief that he hadn't realised he was feeling and didn't know could be assuaged.

He hoped he came back.


	3. Nick

Nick couldn't stop thinking about the club and what they had done there.

He knew that the evening of, and indeed the morning after, should have been enough to assuage him of his fears regarding Liam's happiness and safety, but the fact that he hadn't contacted them since would seem to show otherwise. Perhaps he had harmed the man far more than he had let on. The man was a master of subterfuge after all, and although Nick was good at picking up people's cues, he reluctantly admitted that his own skills may not be up to the par of Liam's ability to lie.

Every time he considered phoning the man, he stalled with his phone half way out of his pocket, staring at the screen before placing it back in there. If Liam didn't want to talk to them, didn't want to see them, then he wasn't going to push, wasn't going to make the man lie to them again.

He carefully didn't examine the feelings the man was eliciting in himself. He couldn't fall for another man and pine after him for years; once was enough for one lifetime. He wondered what Ty would say if he found out about what the two of them had done the week before. His brain would probably explode from the imagery. It would almost be fun to tell him, to watch his eyes bug out of his face. He chuckled for a moment before his smile fell, thinking about the idiocy of even that train of thought. That was certainly something that was never going to happen.

He wished he could call the man to apologise, make sure that it was all okay, but he didn't want to cause any more damage than he already had. He hated that it was hanging over him, but what was one more ounce of guilt for his soul? At this point it hardly mattered.

He knew that Kelly had enjoyed himself that evening, knew very well that all three of them had, but he didn't know if that was enough, if that certainty was enough to draw them back together, to actually allow them to start something.

That morning, lying together, after watching how wonderfully they all worked together, how they seemed to anticipate each other's moves, watching how Liam and Kelly interacted he thought that they were causing a synergy in their lives that they could explore.

What did he know? Hope was a dangerous thing.


	4. The Call

Liam got off the phone with his client, and immediately started to look at plane tickets. At least he knew where he was going, now, so he wouldn't take much to just purchase them and go. His finger hovered over the button to book his flight, and yet... he couldn't press it. God _damn it_ , he was already far too deep in this.

He set the date for tomorrow instead of that evening. If anything, he would at least get a chance to settle matters once and for all, before the plane left. Loose ends left areas of weakness that he couldn't afford.

Getting a final rejection would make things much simpler, anyway. He could deal with it, move on, and never see the married men again. Liam would separate himself from Sidewinder for good.

After purchasing his ticket to Orlando, he pulled up Nick's number once more and hit the dial button. Perhaps the man wouldn't even answer his call.

But to his surprise, Nick answered nearly immediately. 

"O'Flaherty?" Old habits die hard, Liam supposed.

"Nicholas, it's me," he responded, smiling a little at the knowledge that he wasn't immediately hung up upon. Not that it would make this call any easier.

"Liam, hi." Nick said, his voice softer. What did that softness mean? Perhaps the man was beating himself up with the guilt of finally giving Liam the rejection he needed, so he could go back to being an assassin in the dark.

Liam squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to let his nervousness show. He knew what the answer would be, but he knew he needed to at least _ask_.

"Are you two free tonight?" 

"Depends," Nick's voice had a lightness to it that Liam couldn't quite place. "What's the offer?"

Liam swallowed again. His palms grew sweaty, and he knew he needed to do this. “Maybe... Dinner?" His voice cracked. "And then perhaps we could revisit the club?”

Liam heard what sounded like a nervous chuckle on the phone. "Why Liam Bell, did you just ask us out on a date?"

His heart stopped. That wasn't a _no._ He pressed his luck just a little further.

“If... you want it to be one, it can be, yes.” He hedged.

There was a clear sound of a thumb over the microphone on Nick's phone, but it wasn't very tightly pressed. He could hear the smile on Nick's voice as he called out to Kelly, which made his own nerves tumble in his stomach. Was he happy, or were they... they wouldn't _laugh_ at him, Nick isn't that type of man.

"Babe? A hot Russian just asked us out on a date, do we want to go?"

"Only if he puts out!" He heard Kelly's reaction over the phone, and it was over. He couldn't believe his own ears. _They wanted to meet him again_.

The thumb is lifted off the microphone, and Nick's voice came back. There was a shaky quality to his voice, as if he was also nervous. Was he as nervous as Liam? "Sure, I guess we could do that. What time?"

Liam could almost laugh at just how much his resignation evaporated in an instant, replaced with nerves, and wicked, wicked thoughts about what he wanted to do with them both. Especially to the man asking if his date would put out.

"I'll pick you both up at 1900. And, Darling?" Liam drawled slowly, a wicked smile crossing his features. "I believe it is worth mentioning that a certain someone is due to be driven absolutely insane by the two of us. Wouldn't you agree?" 

Nick dropped his voice into a whisper, clearly to keep his voice out of Kelly's earshot. "Actually I had some ideas about that..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what Nick and Liam are planning! Must be something... devious...

**Author's Note:**

> Come and visit the [Cut & Run Discord Server](https://discord.gg/vvy6c76) and join us as we discuss/scream about this awesome series.


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